The Bournewood Case: British Law and Vulnerable People
THE BOURNEWOOD CASE
The Bournewood case pinpoints the remarkable change in the British law that deals with vulnerable people, which came into force in April 2009 as Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
It is the story of an autistic person of 45 years old (HL), who had lived in Bournewood hospital in Surrey, in residential care, for 32 years, before he was fostered by a family in 1994. Living in a family proved to be very beneficial for him and, as the family said:, “...he became more confident and progressed beyond all expectations.”
One day he was suddenly taken back to Bournewood and illegally detained to the Severe Behavioural Unit because of a change in his behaviour. It was all due to a different driver who changed the usual route to the day centre where HL was supposed to attend once a week, as part of his placement, and to another person’s disruptive behaviour who made him feel upset. The family was informed about it and asked not to visit him. He was detained there from July 1997, indefinitely, under The Mental Health Act, “in his best interest”. In the meantime the family struggled to fight his case in the High Court, and that lasted for four months. In December the same year, at discharge, his state was terrible as a result of the abuses he had been subject of. “...he looks half-starved, with blackened toenails and scabs on his face”, describes the family. For them, the fight did not stop there, as they felt an injustice had happened. HL was not able to speak and therefore he could not protest and state where he actually wanted to be. His family recognised in this an abusive removal of HL from their family, and they knew they had to challenge the authorities as there were so many other similar cases. They took the case to The European Court of Human Rights at the end of 1998. They had been successful and, in 2004 the government had to change the law and introduced The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards which provides extra protection for people who
The Bournewood case pinpoints the remarkable change in the British law that deals with vulnerable people, which came into force in April 2009 as Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
It is the story of an autistic person of 45 years old (HL), who had lived in Bournewood hospital in Surrey, in residential care, for 32 years, before he was fostered by a family in 1994. Living in a family proved to be very beneficial for him and, as the family said:, “...he became more confident and progressed beyond all expectations.”
One day he was suddenly taken back to Bournewood and illegally detained to the Severe Behavioural Unit because of a change in his behaviour. It was all due to a different driver who changed the usual route to the day centre where HL was supposed to attend once a week, as part of his placement, and to another person’s disruptive behaviour who made him feel upset. The family was informed about it and asked not to visit him. He was detained there from July 1997, indefinitely, under The Mental Health Act, “in his best interest”. In the meantime the family struggled to fight his case in the High Court, and that lasted for four months. In December the same year, at discharge, his state was terrible as a result of the abuses he had been subject of. “...he looks half-starved, with blackened toenails and scabs on his face”, describes the family. For them, the fight did not stop there, as they felt an injustice had happened. HL was not able to speak and therefore he could not protest and state where he actually wanted to be. His family recognised in this an abusive removal of HL from their family, and they knew they had to challenge the authorities as there were so many other similar cases. They took the case to The European Court of Human Rights at the end of 1998. They had been successful and, in 2004 the government had to change the law and introduced The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards which provides extra protection for people who